The Truth of the Nightmares
by JZKSR
Summary: Shadow spirits break rules. They hide from the rest of the spirits, most of the time because they're different and weird. Hardly any other spirit will go near them, but sometimes the shadows go near them, to offer protection or warnings. The Man in the Moon must have a reason for them existing, after all, he talks to one of them. R&R
1. Eidolon

**I wasn't sure whether to label this as an OC. Basically, I just went with not. After all, they do appear in the movie, just not how they appear here.**

I walked calmly down the street, my hood up and my every piece of magic spread out, quietly offering protection and hope to those who needed it. Easter was one of the more dangerous holidays for me. After all, the bunny that ruled the holiday could sense the magic that I used. We were both beings of hope. My hope just also gave strength and courage. His gave new birth, but sometimes that wasn't what was needed.

It was just before I took another step that the shadowy form appeared at my feet. The Man in the Moon did that sometimes. Usually, there was an image of a child somewhere near by that needed some slight encouragement to tell the truth to someone that could save them. I was always glad to give it. Children were as sacred as life itself was.

This wasn't a child though. It was an image of something much worse. The bunny himself needed help for some reason. I let my magic spread further, until I found the frightened symbol of hope. Immediately, I disappeared into the shadows and reappeared beside him, muttering a cool, "I wouldn't do that if I were you, whoever you are."

"I am General Winter. What being are you?" the old man demanded.

I growled, "_Go back to Russia, or I'll show you what kind of being I am, and you won't like it much_."

"You are in no place to be giving the orders," General Winter remarked.

I stepped from the shadows that were my home, glared up at him, letting him feel the magic that came from me due to the sacred duty I preformed, letting him know that I was stronger them him, letting him sense just how _wrong_ the world would have to be for him to win any battle with me. I remarked, my voice filled with a calm that I knew could frighten the old Russian winter spirit, "You have no power now. Spring has come, and it's time for winter to be in it's place. Leave before I make you."

He backed away slowly from the fallen spirit of spring, launching off in a flurry of snow. I knelt before Bunnymund, gently placing a hand on him, and using the shadows that powered my magic to heal him.

He asked, "Who are ya?" It was all accent and embarrassment.

"Most of the children that believe in me call me Shadow or Shade. I protect children, adults, or anyone in need from abuse," I explained, "Personally, I prefer the name I was once called by a clever little boy. He always asked for Eidolon when he needed protection."

"'m Aster," he informed me, as most spirits preferred to be called a name rather than their official title.

I offered him a hand up, and he took it easily.

A snowy haired boy looked around the corner, asking, "Aster, where did you go?"

"'m here frostbite," Aster replied.

Jack Frost, who I had seen more than once cheering up children around winter time, stared at me for a moment, obviously not understanding who or what I was.

I told him, "Calm down Frosty. You're not the only spirits out and about on a night like tonight." Then I promptly disappeared, not wanting to deal with the legitimate guardians any longer. Besides, I wasn't really their kind of spirit. After all, regular mortals could see me when I chose to be seen, rather than only if they believed in me. That way I could comfort all children. The Man in the Moon gave me that much, and for it I would always be grateful.

I sat in the house I had long before inherited from the same boy that had given me the name Eidolon, and sent out the colorful figments of imagination known as imaginary friends to all those children that needed them. It was something I did nightly, to make sure that those that came back would get new orders as soon as was possible. After all, some kids had enough imagination to make there own. There was a knock on the door though.

Slowly, I stood up, knowing that my night time was relative because of what I was, but also knowing that several humans still relied on me after my most recent time spent acting as if I was one of them.

"Who is it?" I called.

An annoyed voice replied easily, "It's me."

I opened the door, then motioned for them to enter, my careful safe check that they weren't a monster in disguise because the ambiguous offer didn't give monsters entry.

Donahue walked straight in, looking a surprising mixture between distraught and annoyed.

"What's the problem?" I inquired.

Donahue informed me, "It's Conner."

"What's your problem with him?" I asked.

Donahue looked every brand of sheepish there was, even as he looked down and blushed, trying to find a way to voice exactly what kind of problem he had. That was all I really needed though.

I commented, "You do realize I've never _really_ been in a serious relationship."

"Yeah, well... you're usually a source of infinite wisdom when it comes to this side of things," Donahue countered, and I knew what he meant.

I replied, "The ways of spirits are pretty simple on what you're supposed to do, but as a spirit like me, that is to say of the shadows, you break rules. It's a natural instinct most of the time, which we have to fight against often enough. Do what you think he'd be comfortable with, and don't worry about the rest. He's a summer spirit, so he'll be happy and laid back. Don't worry about it. Spirits like us think too hard most of the time because we're more keyed to humans. We're all cerebral, unlike most spirits, and that causes us to get more worked up about things like love and hate and everything in between."

"So I should talk to him?" Donahue inquired.

I nodded, then mentioned, "Also, don't expect him to catch on at first. Even if you think you're being blatantly obvious, we're beings of the shadow. We never say what we mean to others, even if we mean to."

Donahue nodded, disappearing as easily as he had no doubt appeared on my door step. The other shadow spirits always turned to me for help, as if I was some kind of leader that our kind was never known to have. After all, we were all about breaking the rules, so not laying out many made our lives easier. All the lists of rules we had were jokes, although most of us did follow the rather hilarious mating rituals of a shadow spirit because we could.

There was another knock on my door, and I didn't want to be bothered. I plopped down on my couch, sending out more shadows, then called, "Entrance is most likely granted, and if it isn't, you'll be gone."

The man that walked in wasn't someone I could forcibly remove however, not after inviting him in so blatantly, and maybe that only half mattered when he was as strong as he was, even so soon after he had been defeated by the legitimate guardians.

"Still disrespected little shadow?" Pitch inquired, picking up the scent easily, despite the strong magic I usually used to mask it, making me smell of nothing but healing and the safety of hiding places.

I countered, "Still not believed in Pitch?"

We were immediately glaring at each other, but I didn't leave my relaxed seat on the couch. I had to seem as relaxed as possible, or he'd use my fear against me, as he'd done before.

"I once almost solved both problems," he pointed out.

I commanded, trying to keep my voice as steely as it had to be, "Leave."

"Good luck with that girly. You served me once. You'll do it again," Pitch purred. We had attacked him when the guardians had finished, taken our true forms and done as we had been originally destined to. However, once you've served Pitch, it was nigh on impossible to stop.

**I've posted fanfiction before, but never for Rise of the Guardians. I'm a little nervous about how OOC I made some of the characters, but it seems alright. There will be more of the main cast of the Rise of the Guardians in later chapters. None of the ROTG characters belong to me. I'll probably post whenever I remember, so it might not be as regular as it could be. Please, read and review.**

**-JZKSR**


	2. Daimon

**A/N: Thanks to all of those that favorited or followed the first chapter of this story. I have a feeling there are going to be questions about this chapter that will be answered eventually, unless I'm an utter failure and wrote in a plot hole I didn't even notice. The italicized text is in the past. It says a couple days before, but I just wanted to make it clear. Sorry that this chapter is a little shorter than the last one.**

A Few Days Later

"I told ya I don't want to talk about it!" Aster exclaimed.

Jack sighed, unhappy that his now friend wouldn't tell him what had happened in that alley.

North came in abruptly and announced, "We have a visitor this month that needs help with a problem."

"I'm Daimon," the young man behind him introduced, "and I need to talk to you about Eidolon."

"What about her?" Aster immediately inquired.

Daimon explained, "She's missing. Usually, all the shadow spirits can feel her presence across the globe, with her imaginary friends, and her help with special cases, but it's all gone. Every trace of her magic has disappeared, and we have to find her before the lunar eclipse."

"I didn't know you sent imaginary friends," Jack commented.

"It's not something we advertise much," Daimon replied, "but I figured you needed all the information I can give you."

"Why does she need help?" Tooth inquired, looking concerned and wary at the same time. Everyone knew shadow spirits could easily mean trouble at any moment.

Daimon informed them, "During the eclipse, then the Queen of Shadows can be bound to a king. There's only currently two spirits strong enough to perform the task if she's unwilling. One of them is locked down and accounted for. It's the other we're worried about, as he was the last to almost manage it."

"I thought ya shadows had no leader, mate," Aster remarked.

Daimon replied, "She doesn't like thinking about the structure in such formal terms, and most of us would break any rules she laid out anyway. However, she is the Queen, and without her, children across the globe will be hurt."

"We can protect them," Tooth argued.

Daimon let out a heavy sigh, explaining as best he could, "Your protection is passive. Ours is a little more aggressive, which is why most of you lot don't like us much."

"Obviously there are exceptions, no?" North commented.

Aster inquired," What dya mean mate?"

"He smells like fresh grass and summer," North pointed out. The other Guardians only noticed it then, but Daimon didn't so much as offer up a paltry blush.

Daimon said, "That doesn't matter right now. I need help saving Eidolon before she's bound again."

"What happened last time?" Tooth asked.

Daimon replied, his voice quiet and foreboding, "Pitch Black almost won."

Sandman conjured up a picture of the nightmare that had seemed like the leader of the horses as best he could.

"Yeah, that's her," Daimon confirmed, "Except this time Pitch might decide he likes her human form better. He's always wanted to be the king of the shadows, but there's no way he could become such unless he bonded her more forcibly than last time."

A Couple Days Before

_I struggled at my bonds, trying to remember why I had to remain free. There were hundreds of children that needed saving, all of whom I could sense with my magic._

_Pitch came back though, and this time he held something familiar. I had seen how the magic worked before. There was no real way to resist it. That very knowledge was what made me so susceptible though because the placebo affect could mean everything._

_Desperately, I turned away, knowing that merely shutting my eyes would cause me more pain, as he would force them open. This might earn me bruises, but it saved me just long enough to send off a message to Daimon. Hopefully, he'd find it within a week. After all, the spot of imagination would certainly search for him until it found him._

_Pitch grabbed my chin, his long fingers familiar to me from the year I had spent in his forced service, only to be freed by the unknowing Guardians. They were familiar from before too, from a time where sixteen year old girls married twenty year old men all the time, and fathers sold their daughters for a bag of old apples and a couple of cows. The only reason I remained a free was because I had defended a thief from his anger that day and paid for it with my life._

_"I believe you've grown more beautiful from the day I purchased you," Pitch remarked._

_I told him, trying to put some of the command that belonged there back into my voice, "Let me go."_

_"Begging won't save you. Now, look here," Pitch commanded, even as he put the swirling magic in front of me in front of me, and I was helpless. I had looked into it once before after all, and its control was more addicting than anything else. It was so easy to let thought leave my mind._

_Pitch inquired, his voice filled with pleasure, "Are you mine?"_

_"Yes my lord King," I replied, no longer caring that it wasn't yet his title._

_Pitch asked, "Will you be my queen?"_

_"It would be my honor, my lord King," I told him._

_Pitch pulled me away from the wall, easily removing the bonds he had placed on me with his magic, and I just smiled like I was happy._

**Please, R&R,**

**-JZKSR**


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